1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and optical apparatus for detecting an abnormality of cell growth in an organ or tissue at an incipient stage by the measurement of light reflected from the organ or tissue in a normal condition and under a predetermined pressure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recent studies in the medical field have suggested that it is possible to detect an abnormality such as cancer in an organ or tissue of the human body by means of a spectral analysis of light directed to and reflected from an organ or a tissue. In this regard it has been discovered that the intensity of light reflected will vary across the visual spectrum of light and will generally decrease, at least between 500 and 600 nanometers depending upon the degree of cancer growth. Experiments in this area have been reported in a Japanese publication, Image Technology and Information Display, September, 1975 pages 55 to 58 by T. Sakita and H. Kumagai. In applying the suggested technique of this publication for the detection of cancer in an organ or a tissue of the human body, a bandwidth of light is directed to be reflected from the organ or tissue. During the measurement period, it is recommended that the end of the light guide optical fiber, which provides both the exit and entrance point for the light, should be in contact with the surface of the organ or the tissue for removing the influence of any surface mirror reflection of light from the organ or tissue to thereby eliminate any possible error readings.
Various attempts have been made in the prior art to permit an early detection of cancer at its incipient stage. As is well known in the medical profession, the sooner the cancerous growth is detected the greater the chance for successful preventative or curative medical treatment. When the cancer has reached an advance stage, it is relatively easy to determine by the color and light reflection and distinction between the cancerous tissue and that of the normal living portion. This has been more than adequately established by the above mentioned article. The detection, however, of cancer at its incipient state when it is proliferating in the normal organ or tissue, has proved more elusive to the efforts of the medical profession because an organ which is attacked by proliferating cancer with the cells still living can hardly be distinguished from a normal organ regardless of the degree or condition of the disease.
Accordingly, the medical profession is still seeking methods and apparatus that can be conveniently utilized in the monitoring of apparently healthy patients to provide an early diagnosis of cancer.
As can be generally appreciated, a large number of optical catheters and endoscopic instruments are known in the medical profession. The Richards U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,235 provides an illustrative example of such an instrument. U.S. Pat. No. 2,922,873; U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,294; U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,066; U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,876; U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,259 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,081 are cited of general interest to show other various forms of optical catheters and endoscopic instruments. The particular design characteristics of these instruments, other than the modifications to accomplish the purpose of the present invention and the method by which the embodiments of the present invention are utilized are not important for an understanding of the present invention since they are known in the prior art.